(ANSA-AFP) - ROMA, 13 LUG - Kosovo President Hashim Thaci
arrived on Monday for questioning by war crimes prosecutors in
The Hague for the first time, saying that "nobody can rewrite
history" over his role in the 1990s war. Thaci was indicted by a
special tribunal in late June for war crimes and crimes against
humanity investigating the 1998-99 conflict with Serbia that won
the province its independence. Thaci and others are charged with
being "criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders" in
addition to other crimes against Serb, Roma and Kosovo Albanian
victims while he was leader of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army
(KLA). "I am ready to face the new challenge and succeed for my
son, my family, my people and my country," Thaci told reporters
outside the Specialist Kosovo Chambers, where banner-waving
supporters had gathered. "Nobody can rewrite history. This is a
price of freedom." President since 2016 and prime minister
before that, in recent years Thaci has taken part in talks aimed
at normalising ties with Serbia, which still rejects the
independence of its former province. "Kosovo is a success story,
I am very proud," Thaci said before entering the heavily secured
court building. "I believe in peace through reconciliation and
justice. I believe in dialogue and relations with all nations."
A judge will decide later this year whether to formally charge
Thaci, Kosovo's most powerful politician. He has previously said
that he would resign if the charges are confirmed, insisting
that he was innocent and saying on Sunday before his departure
for The Hague that "our war was clean and just." (ANSA-AFP).
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